Tony Jacklin At The 1989 Ryder Cup

For just the second time in Ryder Cup history, the 1989 Ryder Cup ended in a tie (the other was 1969). As the defending champions, Europe and Captain Tony Jacklin retained the Cup.

In 1989, Tony Jacklin was on his fourth tour of duty as Ryder Cup captain. His record was 2 wins, one loss and one tie.

A convincing argument can be made that Jacklin is the single most important figure in European Ryder Cup golf. He was on the receiving end of Jack Nicklaus’ Concession, As a player, he battled to a 13-14-8 record during the height of US dominance. Then, as Captain in 1985, Jacklin led Europe to its first Ryder Cup Victory since 1957.

Paul McGinley, European Ryder Cup Captain in 2014 said that Jacklin started Europe’s period of dominance in the Ryder Cup. In an interview for Yahoo Sports, he said of Jacklin:

“He moved things on to a professional level. He flew Concorde for the first time. He made sure The European Tour opened the coffers and invested in the players.

“He made sure they wore cashmere sweaters and their clothes fitted. He made sure he had everything they needed to have.

“So he started that template. And what’s happened — other captains come in after Tony, and they see what he’s done, they see things that work, the little things like the cashmere and the Concorde, obviously continued.

“And it’s just a ball rolling and hopefully getting better and better, particularly as we’re winning.”